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The Symbolic Imagination: Coleridge and the Romantic Tradition (Princeton Essays in Literature), by J. Robert Barth
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Studying the nature of symbol in Coleridge's work, Father Barth shows that it is central to Coleridge's intellectual endeavor in poetry and criticism as well as in philosophy and theology. He finds symbol to be an essentially religious reality for Coleridge, one that partakes of the nature of a sacrament, especially sacrament as an encounter between material and spiritual reality. Father Barth notes that eighteenth-century poetry was by and large a poetry of metaphor rather than of symbol, a poetry of reference rather than of encounter. In close readings of the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge, he shows how they practiced and developed the poetry of symbol. Finally, analyzing the symbolic imagination, the author concludes that it is a phenomenon profoundly linked with the experience of Romanticism itself and with a fundamental change in religious sensibility. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
- Sales Rank: #1966665 in Books
- Published on: 2015-03-08
- Released on: 2015-03-08
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .39" w x 5.50" l, .55 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 172 pages
Review
aAn excellent study of the concept of asymbola in Coleridge (and Wordsworth), with specialaand entirely justifiedaemphasis upon the religious context of Coleridge's ideas about the symbol.a
About the Author
J. Robert Barth, S.J. is James P. McIntyre Professor of English at Boston College and is author of several books, including Coleridge and Christian Doctrine and co-editor of The Symbolic Imagination: Coleridge and the Romantic Tradition.
Most helpful customer reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Romanticism, Imagination and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
By David Bennett
Catholic priest Robert Barth outlines Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Romantic thought in a concise and easy to read manner. No, Coleridge was not just a poet; he was also a learned theologian and classicist. His Romantic thought consists of elevating the Imagination above mechanical reason, especially in theology. The Imagination is where we perceive symbol, and where we create symbols, such as in art, poetry, or music. When we create symbols, we participate in the creative action of God, the great "I Am." Thus for Coleridge, a worship service is a much better way to meet God than say, compiling a systematic theology. This is because the worship service appeals to the imagination through the symbols: bread, wine, stained glass, liturgy, music, etc.
Symbols are not "mere" representations. Symbols participate in the reality they symbolize, so that a handshake actually participates in brotherhood. A symbol, such as a handshake, is translucent and reveals eternal truth in the temporal. A symbol is almost synonymous with "sacrament," in that speaking a word of forgiveness, or breaking bread and wine, are symbols that point to actions and realities outside of themselves. While allegory fades and may be deconstructed, symbols are lasting and enduring, and are all somehow united with one another and God. Thus Coleridge owes much to neo-Platonism and the early Christian writers.
As an example of the differences between mechanical and imaginative perception, Coleridge believes that the mechanical mind only sees juxtapositions and order. A doctrine such as the Trinity seems absurd when perceived rationally, but in the imagination, the three and the one may "interpenetrate." This has implications for interpretation of the Bible. Chapter 6 of Barth deals primarily with this. Coleridge believes that literalists and anti-Christian scoffers all err, because they interpret the Bible in a mechanical way. They miss truths for words. Coleridge does not deny the historicity of the Bible per se, but believes that literal interpretation asks the wrong questions. Rather Biblical symbols, such as Jesus as both priest and sacrifice, while absurd to the literal mind, enrich the Bible's testimony when perceived by the Imagination.
This book is a great primer on Coleridge's thought. I seem to have been a kind of Romantic/Platonist since birth, so what Coleridge says resonates. Barth offers a clear summary of Coleridge's thought and current implications. If you have ever thought that mechanical "rational" thought misses meanings in life that you experience, Coleridge's philosophy might be for you. If not, buy it for historical study. The chapters are:
1. Theological Foundations of Coleridge on Imagination
2. Symbol as Sacrament
3. The Poetry of Reference
4. Poetry of Encounter: Wordsworth
5. Poetry of Encounter: Coleridge
6. The Scriptural Imagination
7. Symbol and Romanticism
8. Symbol and Religion: Past and Future
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A Book about Literature, Not Just Coleridge
By A.E.M. Baumann
Yes, this book is about Coleridge's theory of "symbolic imagination" (which is not Coleridge's phrase, but is wholly apropos). But it in no way should it be considered useful only to people who are interested in Coleridge. And, yes, the book is about where Coleridge's theory of literature and his theories of religion meet, and Barth, appropriately, writes from the same point of view, with the religious aspect as a key theme. But, it is also false to say that this book should be considered useful only to people coming out of a Christian or Catholic viewpoint. There may be a brief moment or two (in the 2d edition) where it seems to me that Barth slips into Christian apologetics, but for the most part the religious aspect is as Coleridge himself would have intended it: as an exploration not of religion (or any one religion) but of the spiritual.
It is there, in the spiritual, in the primary engagement with being, that Coleridge anchors both his explorations of poetry (more correctly literature as a whole) and of religion; and, it is there that the book finds its value. Indeed, I recommend the book highly for anyone interested in literature, either from the reading side or the writing side. It is the kind of critical book that cannot help but open new avenues of exploration, especially in its presentation of the symbol as experiential (as opposed to hermeneutic). This is not some general criticism, some "how to read poetry." It is argument for and demonstration of why literature -- and art in general -- of the highest order is important to the development of the individual psyche in its being in the world.
It is, of course, also argument to what is literature of the highest order. Which is, of course, what the _Biographia_ is also about.
Since I had read the _Biographia Literaria_ just prior, I have a small qualm with me speaking about what degree of knowledge of Coleridge or the _Biographia_ is necessary to Barth's volume. The ideas of _Symbolic Imagination_ are presented out of themselves as much (if not more than) out of Coleridge, which seems to me the book's intent. This is not a book about Coleridge and only Coleridge; it is a book about symbolism, if symbolism from out of how Coleridge explored the idea, presented both theoretically and practically. Half of the volume consists of engagements with poetry as demonstration to Barth's basic discerning between what he calls "poetry of reference" (non-symbolic poetry) and "poetry of encounter" (symbolic poetry). As such, the book is as much about Coleridge's and Wordsworth's poetry as it is about their theories of poetry. Do you need more than a casual, literary knowledge of Coleridge to read this book? I do not think so. However, would I recommend this book to a novice in the world of literary criticism? Perhaps. I think the chapters on poetry of reference and poetry of encounter could be read by most everyone. The more theoretical chapters, however, may be difficult for a novice to grasp. But, then, the _Biographia_ is itself not what anyone would call an "introductory" text.
In sum: If you can escape the misconception of considering the book to be a defense of Christianity or a Christian theological text (both of which it absolutely is not), this book cannot but be a rewarding endeavor. I have been recommending it to my literature friends at every opportunity since the first reading.
*
A Note on Editions:
I have read both editions, in order. There is a substantial difference between the two. In the second edition, Barth adds a useful prologue on criticism written on Coleridge and symbolism since the first. Also, with the expected, minor rewrites, he modifies one chapter and adds two others, to the end of increasing the theological engagements of the book. To me, this increase is nonetheless within the bounds established by the original edition, even if it did change, somewhat, the reading of the book. The book's primary thesis (both editions) is the symbol as spiritual event, and as such as the place where literature (and literary theory) and religion (and theological theory) meet. For me, the change in the editions gives more balance to the exploration by giving more words to the theological side. The book was, originally, written as a study in literature _and_ religion: so the changes were for me appropriate. Do not, however, take this as saying the second edition decreases the literary-critical value of the book in its effort to increase the theological-critical value of the book. Barth's biases are always to the fore and as such are easily navigable: i.e., this is not a book by a Catholic for Catholics. It is the combining of literature and religion, that exploration of symbol as primary engagement within both, that makes the book -- and Coleridge's own thinking on the matter -- so interesting and profitable.
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